The Inside Scoop on Gaming

I just picked up this hefty eighty-pager a little while ago. Half Price Books only wanted $3 for it, and who am I to turn a supplement down? My experiences with Paranoia supplements have always been good. This isn't an exception.

Acute Paranoia is big. Not just in size, but in density and volume. This book is so packed, you might not even read it all through. The content is also extremely varied, with some of the adventures being stand-alone caliber, if only conceptually. Since it's so big, I'll just go through the contents step by step. Okay with you all?

Sanity Tests. Arbitrary tests for the Computer to administer. Really freaks the players out. Hey, you even get to scream at them a lot! (2/5)
Better Living Through Chemistry. Several different kinds of drugs that can have some freakish effects on the players. Gonna burn a lot of clones with these, I can tell you! (4/5)
New Secret Societies. Trekkies to radical feminists. Ehh...not exactly what you'd buy Acute Paranoia for. Some of them are kind of funny, but the subsequent packaged adventures leave most of them out. Unfortunately, my favorite (Moo), has never been mentioned since. Still, if you'd like to have a player's future clone try to assasinate him... (1/5)
Playing Robots. Very humorous rules for playing as bots. This can be a very nice diversion from Paranoia, but it won't last quite as long, though you have to love the idea of retrorockets in the Alpha Complex. (3/5)
Me and My Shadow, Mark IV. The troubleshooters guard a huge, armed-to-the-teeth tank. Hilarity ensues. Seriously though, this is a packaged-quality adventure, and some of the situations created by the tank are truly hilarious. Wile E. Coyote fans, please seek this. (4/5)
Botbusters. An example of playing as Bots. The players (as bots, natch) enter an alienated sector to remove a poisonous gas. The thing is, robots don't smell without smelling software. Includes a very funny beginning sequence where the bots go in for new software and come out much worse than they went in. Can you convincingly play an incompetent NPC? (3/5)
Warriors of the Nightcycle. Ninja rules in Paranoia! Yes! Unfortunately, Ninjas are INFRAREDs. Bummer, dude. Quite fun nonetheless, but don't expect to use Ninjas all the time. (2/5)
The Harder They Clone. Rock music gets into the Alpha Complex. This is the perfect chance to integrate the stereo you bought in 1974 into a hard gaming session without using a dorky AD&D "interactive" CD. (2/5)

...and then there are a bunch (eight) of interesting adventure "skeletons" for you to build on. They've got promise, I'll give 'em that.

Paranoia GMs, get this if you can.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Acute Paranoia
Author: Greg Costikyan, Ken Rolston, John M. Ford, Erick Wujcik, Dennis Sustare, Curtis Smith, Steven Maurer, Allen Varney, Warren Spector, Stephen Crane, Steve Gilbert, Dan Palter, Kevin Wilkins, Peter Corless, Doug Kaufman Category: game Company/Publisher: West End Line: Paranoia Cost: Roughly $3-8 Page count: 80 ISBN: 0-87431-034-2 Capsule Review by Colin Marshall on 06/16/99. Genre tags: Science_fiction Far_Future Comedy Conspiracy	I just picked up this hefty eighty-pager a little while ago. Half Price Books only wanted $3 for it, and who am I to turn a supplement down? My experiences with Paranoia supplements have always been good. This isn't an exception. Acute Paranoia is big. Not just in size, but in density and volume. This book is so packed, you might not even read it all through. The content is also extremely varied, with some of the adventures being stand-alone caliber, if only conceptually. Since it's so big, I'll just go through the contents step by step. Okay with you all? Sanity Tests. Arbitrary tests for the Computer to administer. Really freaks the players out. Hey, you even get to scream at them a lot! (2/5) Better Living Through Chemistry. Several different kinds of drugs that can have some freakish effects on the players. Gonna burn a lot of clones with these, I can tell you! (4/5) New Secret Societies. Trekkies to radical feminists. Ehh...not exactly what you'd buy Acute Paranoia for. Some of them are kind of funny, but the subsequent packaged adventures leave most of them out. Unfortunately, my favorite (Moo), has never been mentioned since. Still, if you'd like to have a player's future clone try to assasinate him... (1/5) Playing Robots. Very humorous rules for playing as bots. This can be a very nice diversion from Paranoia, but it won't last quite as long, though you have to love the idea of retrorockets in the Alpha Complex. (3/5) Me and My Shadow, Mark IV. The troubleshooters guard a huge, armed-to-the-teeth tank. Hilarity ensues. Seriously though, this is a packaged-quality adventure, and some of the situations created by the tank are truly hilarious. Wile E. Coyote fans, please seek this. (4/5) Botbusters. An example of playing as Bots. The players (as bots, natch) enter an alienated sector to remove a poisonous gas. The thing is, robots don't smell without smelling software. Includes a very funny beginning sequence where the bots go in for new software and come out much worse than they went in. Can you convincingly play an incompetent NPC? (3/5) Warriors of the Nightcycle. Ninja rules in Paranoia! Yes! Unfortunately, Ninjas are INFRAREDs. Bummer, dude. Quite fun nonetheless, but don't expect to use Ninjas all the time. (2/5) The Harder They Clone. Rock music gets into the Alpha Complex. This is the perfect chance to integrate the stereo you bought in 1974 into a hard gaming session without using a dorky AD&D "interactive" CD. (2/5) ...and then there are a bunch (eight) of interesting adventure "skeletons" for you to build on. They've got promise, I'll give 'em that. Paranoia GMs, get this if you can. Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)